Hurricane Rita Live Thread

NHC - NOAA ^ | 20 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Hurricane Rita is in the Florida Straits, impacting the Florida Keys and South Florida Peninsula. Hurricane watches and warnings are in effect for numerous portions of South Florida. Check local weather statements for updates.

The following links are self-updating:

Public Advisory Currently published every 3 hours 5A, 8A, 11A, 2P, etc. ET
NHC Discussion Published every six hours 6A, 11A, 6P, 11P
Three Day Forecast Track
Five Day Forecast Track

Rita Forecast Track Archive
Forecast Models
Buoy Data SE Florida
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Florida

Images:

Storm Floater IR Loop
Visible Storm Floater Still (only visible during daylight hours)
Color Enhanced Atlantic Loop
Florida Radar/Sat Loop Caution: Broadband users only
Extra Large Miami Radar Broadband only
Extra Large Key West Radar Broadband only
Miami Long Range Radar Loop
Key West Long Range Radar Loop
Miami Experimental Radar Still Image
Key West Experimental Radar Still Image

Streaming Video: (coverage may be intermittent)

WTVJ-TV/DT Miami (NBC6)
WFOR-TV/DT Miami (CBS 4)
WSVN-TV/DT Miami (Fox)

Other Resources:

Florida East Coast Surf Reports Lots of great info here, including surf cams
Central Florida Hurricane Center
Hurricane City

Category	Wind Speed	Barometric Pressure	Storm Surge	Damage Potential
Tropical Depression	< 39 mph < 34 kts			Minimal
Tropical Storm	39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts			Minimal
Hurricane 1 (Weak)	74 - 95 mph 64 - 82 kts	28.94" or more 980.02 mb or more	4.0' - 5.0' 1.2 m - 1.5 m	Minimal damage to vegetation
Hurricane 2 (Moderate)	96 - 110 mph 83 - 95 kts	28.50" - 28.93" 965.12 mb - 979.68 mb	6.0' - 8.0' 1.8 m - 2.4 m	Moderate damage to houses
Hurricane 3 (Strong)	111 - 130 mph 96 - 112 kts	27.91" - 28.49" 945.14 mb - 964.78 mb	9.0' - 12.0' 2.7 m - 3.7 m	Extensive damage to small buildings
Hurricane 4 (Very strong)	131 - 155 mph 113 - 135 kts	27.17" - 27.90" 920.08 mb - 944.80 mb	13.0' - 18.0' 3.9 m - 5.5 m	Extreme structural damage
Hurricane 5 (Devastating)	Greater than 155 mph Greater than 135 kts	Less than 27.17" Less than 920.08 mb	Greater than 18.0' Greater than 5.5m	Catastrophic building failures possible

Previous Threads:
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[don-o]

I need to ask some neighbors what they are doing

That is the exact correct thing to do. Band together with your neighbors. Post back what y'all decide on.

Uh, I gather you are not in PA anymore?

[Dog Gone]

It's due south of Houston. Galveston is more southeast of the city. It would actually be worse for Galveston and Houston if Freeport is the landfall than if Galveston is because of the storm surge.

[epaul]

So, are you prepping for the storm too???????? ;)

[johnb838]

That was the flood of october'94.

I remember that one. That started the day after I had my lumbar fusion surgery. Been through lots of floods around here, just not the winds.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Hey now, I live near Richmond -

[SE Mom]

http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~ovens/loops/wxloop.cgi?wv_east_enhanced+12+-update+3600

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/float-vis-loop.html

Notice at the top of the noaa link there are little boxes to click on- makes for interesting perspectives...

[Dog Gone]

Drove home from work today. Long lines at the gas stations, supermarkets packed.

If Houston residents don't already have their supplies, they might not get any. It's not panic, but it is a least a frenzy. My office will decide tomorrow whether to close on Thursday.

[CindyDawg]

Can barns be built to withstand hurricane force winds?

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

No - about 50 miles inland from Galveston - southwest of Houston

[Dog]

You take care...if they say get out of dodge...get out.

[don-o]

Sorry - I have a dog and a cat. Nice to have around. But, if I had the emotional investment that I hear that so many people seem to have the animals, why are they looking for transport cages now?

I think we have some around here someplace, simply off taking, the cat to the vet.

The dog is smart enough to just get in the van and ride.

[backhoe]

Can you FReepmail me about the tri-fuel option? We have a Generac on order, and I'm planning to run it on propane

Jim, that is a good idea- one problem you run into with gasoline-only engines is periods of idleness causing the fuel to go bad. Also, varnish and gum form in the carburetor as time passes. While you can mitigate these problems with fuel stabilzer ( Sta-Bil, for example ) and by running the engine dry when taking it offline for a while, these things are not a problem with bottled or natural gas.

I mention this because when you need a generator, you usually need it kind of badly and don't want to have hard starting, bad running problems when you first fire it up.

[OC_Steve]

Man I just got back from the Randall's in Cypress off 290 and it was a mad house. People were scurrying through the store with small bottles of water. Besides those last bottles the store was out of bottled water. When I was walking out folks were looking into my cart. I think they were checking if I had gotten any water. I would have brushed it off but two different people looked at my cart and had a worried look on their face.

I was going for milk, beer and cough drops (maybe that is why they were looking into my cart as they were puzzled).

[Dog Gone]

Most of the Houston folks on this thread are staying and you could probably get to Dog Gone's house if yours was damaged.

I've to the extra bedrooms. What I can't guarantee is that they'll have glass in the windows. Trying to board up the upstairs bedrooms has a 90% chance of resulting in a broken neck, so they're going to be unprotected.

[DYngbld]

000
WTNT63 KNHC 202131
TCUAT3
HURRICANE RITA TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 530 PM EDT TUE SEP 20 2005

BETWEEN 445 AND 5 PM EDT...AN UNOFFICIAL REPORT FROM A HAM RADIO OPERATOR INDICATED SUSTAINED WINDS OF 75 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 102 MPH WERE MEASURED BY WIND EQUIPMENT IN THE KEY WEST AREA.

FORECASTER STEWART


$$

[blam]

"Can you FReepmail me about the tri-fuel option? "

That was someone else. Mine runs just on gasoline.

[don-o]

Talk to your neighbors.

Seems to me that you could be looking at no power for a time. Who has generators that will allow for refrigeration and a home for people to come to and use computers - watch TeeVee, etc?

[rodguy911]

Must be pretty recent. I just checked the area buoys and we had 55 mph gusts off Key Largo,79 mph off Marathon,67 off Key West at Sand Key Light, and the Tortugas now getting into the act with 67 mph gusts. This baby could keep blowing all night long from the looks of it.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

That's my concern as well - boarding up that window in my dining room......... ;^)

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Actually I'm trying to weigh the options - if I stay and ride out the storm, I could always leave (well, if the car wasn't mangled) and go to my daughter's apartment in Lubbock for awhile - but if I leave before the storm I will be nuts the whole time wondering if the house is ok....... lol